this debate night: exorcise your demons

some white folks who got that election fever!

This election cycle is the worst. The two main candidates are so transparently representative of the destructive social and economic forces that define what this country is about that it’s harder and harder to keep up all the illusions necessary to keep it running. Militarism and imperialism, the crushing power of money and banks, and a new(ish) breed of white supremacist backlash are all there screaming at us from wherever we’re getting our media fix. Elections are exhausting affairs for so many reasons and this one is taking the cake and smashing it in our faces, crumbs everywhere. It’s a coordinated attack on our senses and sensibilities.

You must hate it. Wouldn’t you like to get some revenge on this hideous beast of an election? We certainly do.

Since you probably live in or near Saint Louis you are being presented with what might be a nice ready-made gift. This city will be blessed (in a manner of speaking) as the host of a presidential debate on October 9th where both human freaks that think they can effectively represent 300+ million people will be in town, together. These white demons that have jumped out of our TVs and pasts to become the Republican and Democratic frontrunners will be gnashing their teeth on stage at Washington University, vying for your Hearts + Votes.

But what exactly are these white demons representing? You? Us? Our sisters and brothers rotting in prisons? The shareholders of those prisons and the banks that finance their construction? Our dreams and our fears? The United States (what’s that??)? It’s relative, but one certain thing is that these white demons together definitely represent how fucked we are. They’re the demons that reappear every 4 years – sometimes more firey and evil than others, but all from the same place – to sell you a load of shit that you don’t really have any choice but to keep on buying. And that shit-selling will be televised live from STL in a few weeks.

(About third party lesser white demons: America, and all it entails, including 99.99999% of electoral politics, is the greatest white demon of all, and is therefore the problem. Stop looking for saviors.)

We’d like to take this opportunity to invite anyone out on the night of the debate to come and resist the debacle however you wish. Want to cause a scene to send a message to the world of your disgust? Want to dance on Delmar Boulevard and annoy/frighten some sheltered Washington University students? Want to spray graffiti all over some gentrifying student housing? Want to rush the debate stage and shout “no no no what are these white demons doing here”? (This would be incredibly dangerous and probably impossible and we wouldn’t recommend trying it, but at least you’re thinking.) There are any number of things you could do to resist and give you a chance to live outside the conditions of this unbearably stupid election. Think about it and think on being there.

… and about being smart. Washington University, the location of the debate, will likely be heavily securitized and impossible to enter if you aren’t a student there (just imagine it becoming the pristine, fortified bubble it aspires to be). That security will probably spill out into the surrounding area, which all means that whatever you’d like to do in that area, you should do so with some smartness.

If you’re thinking that you want to stay at home so you don’t miss out on what might be an exciting train wreck on live TV, just remember that this will be the second debate so it will probably be more boring and depressing than the first one. Plus you have Youtube for any juicy bits. Meeting people and moving towards the creation of a better world is surely more satisfying than watching the worst of what this one is offering us.

So see the 9th and the debate as an opportunity to resist all these demons in your life. Celebrate and tell your friends and family, bring them along for the ride. If you’re planning something for the 9th or want to do something: publicize that shit if that’s smart, or if that’s not smart then just do it. Take all that electoral frustration and anger and desperation and do things.

On the 9th, and for any dumb debate night, take joy in resisting. Take joy in creating the new amidst all the ashes of the old.